Kullu (Himachal Pradesh), Sep 25 (Inditop.com) Organisers of the centuries-old Kullu Dussehra are breaking a tradition to bring peace to the celebrations. Fed up with the bickering between followers of two deities, the officials have decided not to invite the two gods to the festival, beginning Sep 28 here.
The followers of the powerful deities of Kullu — Shringa Rishi and Balu Nag — have been clashing during the festival over the past few years over the superiority of their deities.
“This time we have told the followers of both the feuding deities to settle their scores before participating in the Dussehra festival. We have not extended invitation to them after taking into consideration other spiritual leaders,” Deputy Commissioner of Police (Kullu) B.C. Nanta told Inditop.
The district administration has been inviting the local deities every year for participation in the festival since the princely states were abolished after independence.
The origin of the festival dates back to 1637 when Raja Jagat Singh was the ruler of Kullu. He had been inviting all local deities in Kullu to perform a ritual in honour of chief deity Lord Raghunath (as Lord Ram is known in the Kullu valley) during Dussehra.
Since then, the annual assembly of deities from hundreds of villages across Kullu and nearby valleys has become a tradition.
Around 200 deities have been reaching in palanquins along with thousands of followers every year for paying obeisance to Lord Raghunath.
The chariot of Lord Raghunath is wheeled out of the temple here and brought to the Dhalpur grounds on the first day of the festival amid beating of drums and playing of trumpets . The other deities converge there to pay obeisance to the chief deity.
Prem Sharma, director of Himachal’s department of language, art and culture, said the rivalry between the followers of Shringa Rishi and Balu Nag has its roots in a three-decade-old dispute.
“As per tradition, the idol of the superior deity is carried on the right side of the chariot of Lord Raghunath during the concluding Lankadahan ceremony. For many decades, Shringa Rishi used to occupy that place.
“After 1971, followers of Shringa Rishi boycotted the ceremony for 11 years over some dispute. During that period, Balu Nag, who is considered the incarnation of Lord Ram’s brother Lakshman, took that spot. Later, when the conflict among their followers grew stronger over the issue, both stopped participating in the festival,” Sharma said.
“Now when they have again started participating after a gap of 18 years, tempers rise among the followers during the ceremonies for the place of honour for their deities,” he added.
Both the deities had been placed under ‘house arrest’ last year after tempers flared up among the followers. The district administration had imposed Section 144 of the Criminal Procedure Code and asked their followers not to bring the deities to the concluding ceremony.
Superintendent of Police K.K. Indoria said that special security arrangements have been made to tackle any untoward incident and to manage the crowd during the week-long festivities.
Governor Prabha Rau will inaugurate the festival and Chief Minister Prem Kumar Dhumal will participate on the concluding day.
Unlike other parts of the country, during Kullu Dussehra effigies of Ravan, Meghnad and Kumbhakarna are not burnt.
However, the “evil empire” is destroyed by the assembled deities during the Lankadahan ceremony on the bank of the Beas river on the concluding day of the festival. This time, this ceremony will be performed Oct 4.
